The Let's Play Archive

Part 2: Prologue 1 - Another Encounter - Part 2

Player Phase!

And youve got the gist of it. The Vajras, thankfully, come in in waves, so youre at no risk of being overwhelmed; keep your guys closed, Kenichi with a decent enough stack of HP just in case, and take them down one at a time. No enemies here survive two clean hits from anyone (except Alto).

: Sorry for the delay. Have you calmed down?: Yes, Im good!: Huh you got a stiffer upper lip than I expected. : Heheh Well, I am 25% Zentradi. : Ah So youre made of tougher stuff than you appear.: Still, Im only safe thanks to you. So thank you thank you so much!: Y-Yeah, no problem : Greenie, quit yacking and get her to the hospital! And when you get there, leave the mech!: Why do I gotta do all that, huh? If youre worried about her, go and take her yourself!: If I could do that, I wouldnt have told you to, dumbass!: (That angry voice sounds so much like my brothers but hes a businessman, so its got to be someone else.): Huh? Whats this ?: Something up, Hiyoshi?: Weird Its pretty faint, so I cant get a bead on it but Im pinging an enemy on radar : Hey, Cpt. Ozma! Can your Valkyrie find the thing?!: Huuh?!: D-Dont call out my name, idiot!: No way is that you, brother?: N-No! Im not, Ranka! ... Ack!: I knew it  it IS you!: Why are you working as a pilot? Werent you a businessman? And didnt you promise me that youd never do anything dangerous again?!:

: Gwoooo!: The Vajras come back to life!: Thats what I was picking up on the radar!: You goddamn cockroach!: Gwoooo!

At the Quarters hangar, Kenichis just as surprised to find that Alto was flying that VF-25 as the guy is to find that Kenichis group, Michel and Luca were legit pilots.
Megumi explains that they were all sworn to confidentiality, so they couldnt say anything  Michel and Luca probably had a hard time keeping that secret, Kenichi figures. Alto doesnt seem to sure.
Regardless, Kenichi asks what happened to Gilliam and explains to Alto who that was. Before he can tell what happened, Ozma (!) walks in and asks him to wait until everyones here.

Hiyoshis shocked hes not at the hospital but Ozma laughs that he wouldnt get bedridden over nonsense like that  plus, Canaria, tagging along, has given him the go-ahead to get back to work. Mind, she does warn him to take it easy unless he fancies reopening those wounds.
When Megumi asks, Ozma relates that Ranka calmed down, so he had her sent home without seeing him. Hiyoshi apologizes for his big mouth but Ozma tells him not to sweat it, as it was his own fault for not telling us what was up. So, why DID she freak out as badly as she did?
Ozma and Canaria explain that she reacts violently when faced with friends and family being harmed. In essence, she has Dissociative Amnesia, stress and physical trauma leading to her being incapable of processing a certain experience she had; whenever something causes her to remember said experience, it triggers a terrified outburst.

Alto asks what kind of experience it was and Ozma says Ranka lost her entire family eleven years ago. Her entire family? Yeah, Ozma isnt her real brother  rather, he was the worthless pilot who failed in his mission to protect her family. Granted, Rankas forgotten everything about that event.
And despite having his sister in that state, Ozma still went on piloting? Thats what set her off last battle, Alto protests. Ozma says hes doing it all to protect her, though Alto asks how he can say hes protecting Ranka by hiding so much.
What the hell are you getting at, then? That I should walk up to Ranka and say hey, your family was torn apart by Vajra and that left your mind a mess?! Ozma explodes.
If anything, Alto says hed want to know it all  he doesnt like the thought of others deciding whats what in his life. And, on that note, he wants Ozma to explain just what those Vajras are. Ozma warns that therell be no going back if he hears the truth but Alto is undaunted.

In that case, Ozma tells him to wait 24 hours and think things through: what does Alto want to do? What would he fight for? I dont need 24 hours! Just let me on the Valkyrie! he yells, eliciting an angry punch from Ozma. Altos got his head running wild on adrenaline so calm the hell down and think things through!
As Alto grunts in submission, Ozma requests everyone called over to tell what happened to Gilliam. And, as the one who saw the guys last moments, its up to Alto to relay his account to the survivors  thats how things work here
Altos not too happy but the Quarters crew starts coming in (Mina thinks hes cute). Along with them are Michel and Luca, whore blown away to see Alto as the mystery pilot.

Luca apologizes for the two of them keeping their work at SMS a secret but, you know, confidential. But, hey, if Alto joins the crew, theyll be able to fly together as teammates and not just at school.
Michel isnt too sure about that and questions if Alto would eventually run out of them as he did with his family. Hes flown with Alto for almost a year and can tell that hes not ready; if he goes at it the way he is, then hell end up either dying or getting someone else killed. And Michel is in no way interested in being the victim, so Alto oughta take this as a friendly warning.

By Griffith Park, Altos inwardly denying Michels accusations when he hears Ranka singing from a nearby hill. She spots and thanks him for the help today though only now she gets a chance to ask his name. Alto asks if shes feeling better and, indeed, she is  as scared as she got, her brothers injuries werent too serious.
As for the song, its something she remembers from her childhood  the only thing she remembers, even  and shes rather fond of climbing this hill to sing where no one can hear her. Is she actually alright with that, not having anyone hearing?
In truth, Rankas never actually considered that before but I was so scared when I got attacked by that monster. I thought Im going to die here, never having done anything with myself and without anyone knowing I existed but what if I could let everyone know that Im here  that I exist?
Alto says its impossible and Ranka agrees: Yes, someone like me could never but she doesnt get to finish. Or, at least, itll be impossible if you keep getting stuck on what ifs or thinking youre not good enough, he amends his statement. Ranka huffs that hes so very mean (he gets that a lot) but, then, she decides that she WILL make herself known to others  just like her beloved Sheryl. And Alto, nonchalantly, agrees to be her very first spectator as Ranka starts singing again.

As luck would have it, Sheryl was around and heard her  shes rather impressed. Ranka freaks out, though Altos more startled than star-struck. Sheryls got business with him but thats low priority now  she asks/tells Alto to shuffle away. He wants to know how Sheryl knows his name but, again, she shoos him off.
With him fuming in the distance, she prods Ranka about being her beloved Sheryl; the girl starts clamming up in embarrassment but Sheryl yells against it. Just come out and say whats on her mind!

Well, Sheryls just lovely and she sings and dances so well and shes got this aura of talent and self-confidence, etc, etc. Rankas long been a huge fan and wondered if she could potentially come to be like her; while it may be impossible for someone like her, Rankas still willing to give it her all.
Sheryl likes hearing that, as you cant well do anything if you havent, at least, the willingness to put in the effort  thats a good first step for her. Now, does Ranka love to sing? Absolutely! Then shell need to start making waves and chances always present themselves.

Is the girl talk done? Yes, so Sheryl turns her sighs back to Alto: give me back my earring. What? She knows hes got it, so no playing dumb! Alto yells that hes no idea what shes going on about but is interrupted with Nagisa runs over, looking for Ranka. She was so worried and AAAAAH! Its Sheryl! Whats Sheryl Nome doing somewhere like this?!
Ranka begs her to keep quiet but, too late, people around heard her yelling and the fans are rushing over. Nagisa faints and, meanwhile, Altos conscripted into service when Sheryl demands him come with her before the mob comes over; as Alto groans, Sheryl wishes Ranka good luck as she runs off.

Nagisa comes to, wondering where Sheryl went. Ranka waves it off as a dream, as didnt Nagisa say shed been having some strangely realistic dreams nowadays? Still, Nagisas a bit confused as she never outright fainted like that.
But never mind that, Nagisa wants to know why Ranka didnt get in touch with her and Kawai to let them know she was safe  they were worried sick! Ranka apologizes, saying she was at the hospital and thats all the more reason why Nagisa wants her to get home and rest ASAP. Off they go!

Cut to downtown Island 1, Alto figures theyve lost the fans though Sheryl asks if he shouldve left Ranka back there. But shes the one who dragged him away in the first place! And, plus, he barely even knows the girl. Shes not his girlfriend? No! Absolutely not!
And, on that subject, should a famous person like Sheryl be wandering around town? What, doesnt he like accompanying her? Nope. Well, tough luck because shell be returning to the Macross Galaxy next week, so todays her only chance to find her earring  its very important to her.
Well, the thing dropped into Altos EX-Gear as he carried her, so he tries making a call to the schools Lost and Found. No one answers, though, prompting Sheryl to try yanking the phone off his hands to try it herself. Alto tells her to back off and hell try again first thing tomorrow.

As for how she knew said earring was with him, her manager  Grace  has some bits of tech implanted into her own brain, so she went through the recorded visual data and saw what happened.
Said brain implants are also very illegal in the Frontier but Sheryl says theyre pretty commonplace at the Galaxy; not Sheryl though, one of her selling points is that she's all human. Still, thats a subject for another time as shes got to get going  Alto promises to have the earring delivered as soon as its found.

At Ranka and Ozmas place, shes trying to wrap her head around everything thats happened today.
Sheryl and Altos words about not getting stuck on just what ifs and to take her chance when it presents itself. And Ranka might have something in mind

The SMS Team has moved over to Island 1s cemetery to have Gilliams funeral: He was the bravest of soldiers. With neither fear nor hesitation, he fought to his last to defend his fellow man Still, this is far from the end. One day, his mortal shell will become our flesh and blood as we burn away our souls amid the sky. So rest, my friend; farewell and see you soon, Jeffrey says.
Ippeis taking it badly and Michel, speaking frankly, says hes a bit envious: Ippeis lost important people to him before but he managed to rise above that and keep going. Meanwhile, Michel finds himself constantly hounded by his past, always on edge.
He apologizes for being an ass and Ippei does the same. Hes surprised Michels also got that kind of history but, truth be told, its not that uncommon among the SMS folk  he just doesnt like talking about it. Michel figured it was only a matter of time before Ippei found out, so he decided to say it himself; a decent bunch of people know, too, but he does ask it kept a secret from Alto.
Ippei swears to honor his wish and, exchanging a handshake, Michel proclaims himself to be eager to have more scuffles with him. Inwardly, Ippei swears to Gilliam that all of them will survive through this.

Ozmas met up with Alto at the graveyards outskirts, telling him that, as civilian military providers, none of the SMS crew will officially be tagged as having died in combat  its always treated as accidental deaths. They get no proper funeral services and their families wont even be informed the particulars about their deaths.
Alto sees no problem with this, as he lives life through his strength alone and will die by it as well. So, hes willing to join the SMS. Ozma objects that those 24 hours arent over yet, but Alto says he doesnt need to think any more than hes already done  he wont change his mind.
Ozma doesnt like that hes keeping with that idiocy and moves to punch him though stops just short. Alto didnt even try to dodge and Ozma asks why. Because I figured you wouldnt actually punch me, he says. I only came here because I was committed to doing this  and you dont seem the type to not notice that.

Ozmas chuckle indicates a bullseye and he tells Alto to present himself tomorrow at 0800. Michel, Luca and the Voltes Team were spying from afar and run in to welcome Alto to the job  starting tomorrow, theyre comrades-in-arms!
Altos also looking forward to fighting with them, all in the name of keeping Ranka and the Frontier Fleet safe from the Vajra.

Finally, at the Miss Macross Contest, were getting introduced to the 7th contestant to take to the stage: Ranka Lee!
Her overenthusiastic bow slams her forehead against her mic (Nanase, from the crowd, is worried). Still, she soldiers on: I-I love music, so I figured Id come and sing for you! The song is My Boyfriend is a Pilot!